The present invention relates to a room air conditioner and is more specifically directed to a two level condensate drain arrangement for the basepan of such an air conditioner.
Warm air is frequently humid, i.e. it contains entrained water vapor. During operation of an air conditioning system in a cooling mode, the evaporator reduces the temperature of the air passing through it to a temperature below the dew point. In that condition, water vapor condenses on the evaporator. Means are provided to collect the condensed water and to direct it to the outdoor section of the air conditioner where at least a portion thereof is quite often directed upon the system""s condenser heat exchanger to improve the operating efficiency of the system. Excess condensate, and rain water that may pass into the outdoor unit through openings in the housing of the air conditioning unit, collect in the basepan and it is common practice to provide a drain outlet for conducting such excess condensate to an appropriate disposal location.
In systems that employ a system for directing condensate upon the system""s condenser heat exchanger to improve efficiency, a condensate fan slinger arrangement is usually used. Such arrangement results in a certain level of noise as the slinger passes through collected condensate and directs the condensate into the flow of air passing to the condenser coil. It is accordingly sometimes deemed desirable not to have such a feature and to simply dispose of all collected condensate.
Accordingly, it is deemed desirable to have a window room air conditioner that has a simple optional capability of allowing condensate to collect to a level which is sufficient to supply a condensate slinger for efficiency purposes and also have the option to fully drain all collected condensate from the basepan of the air conditioning unit.
A condensate drain arrangement for an air conditioner, which includes a molded plastic basepan having a substantially horizontally extending bottom wall. The bottom wall has an outdoor section which includes a region for collecting condensate therein. A first condensate drain is formed in the basepan in fluid communication with the condensate collecting region. The first condensate drain is configured to conduct substantially all of the condensate collected within the region for collecting from the basepan. The first condensate drain is optionally enabled by the user of the air conditioner. A second condensate drain is also formed in the basepan in fluid communication with the region for collecting condensate. The second condensate drain is configured to allow collection of condensate in the collection region to a predetermined depth and to conduct condensate which would exceed said predetermined depth from the basepan. The second condensate drain is also optionally enabled by the user of the air conditioner. In a preferred embodiment, a condensate collector is configured to be mounted in the air conditioner housing to collect condensate from whichever of the condensate drains has been enabled. The condensate collector has a single outlet therefrom for conducting condensate to a desired disposal location.